Freya and Bjorn push hard through the rough forest trail toward Saga, barely stopping to eat. Freya endures a difficult ride on a nervous horse while thinking about what she hopes the seer can reveal about Hel’s magic and the future woven for her. On the road, they find a beautiful young woman who claims Bjorn’s horse startled her and scattered her mushrooms. While Bjorn retrieves them, the stranger asks Freya probing questions about whether Freya desires or loves Bjorn, which unsettles Freya and sharpens her jealousy and anger.

That night, Freya and Bjorn make camp in strained silence. Their familiar rhythm of shared work makes the distance between them feel more painful, not less. Bjorn urges Freya to care for her scarred hand, then admits that while he had political reasons for lying before, his decision to pursue her anyway was selfish, and that he now pays for it by losing the woman he loves. Freya refuses to soften and instead punishes him with an over-salted meal, though Bjorn accepts it without complaint.

After dinner, Bjorn goes to bathe in the nearby stream and gives Freya privacy to wash afterward. When he does not return, Freya grows uneasy, then afraid that something has happened to him. Armed with her sword and shield, and guided by Hlin’s magic, she follows the wolves to the riverbank, where she hears a woman singing and discovers Bjorn standing entranced in the water before the same woman from the trail, now naked and seducing him.

Freya first assumes Bjorn is betraying her again, but she quickly realizes he is struggling against enchantment. The creature grows angry when Freya interrupts and reveals her true form: a huldra, with a tail, bark-like body, hooves, and monstrous teeth. When the huldra strikes Bjorn into the current, Freya attacks. She learns Hel’s curse does not work on the creature because it has no soul, so she must rely on Hlin’s shield, Gyda’s weapons, and the wolves. Even after Freya severs its head, the huldra keeps fighting, showing that ordinary wounds do not stop it.

As Freya prepares to knock the huldra down and run after Bjorn, Bjorn reappears across the stream and hurls a flaming axe through the creature’s chest, burning it to ash. Back at camp, Freya berates him for nearly being seduced, while Bjorn lightly points out that Freya came looking for him and saved his life. Freya denies any tenderness, insisting she acted from necessity, but once they settle for the night she privately admits the truth: she still loves and desires Bjorn, and knows he feels the same, yet his betrayal cost lives and destroyed her trust. Concluding that their bond can never be repaired, Freya turns away and weeps.